Explore Interactive Biology Simulations with Gizmos
Gizmos are online simulations that excite curiosity and invite interaction. With more than 550 Gizmos in our library, students can dig deeper into subjects and really understand challenging math and science concepts. Extensive teaching resources that help make planning and teaching easy are included. With Gizmos, kids get it.
Gizmos simulations cover a wide range of life science topics and support inquiry-based learning. Our online biology labs give students the opportunity for hands-on virtual experimentation. These biology simulations allow students to manipulate variables, test hypotheses, and see outcomes, which promotes deeper understanding.
“Using Gizmos has had a positive impact on student learning. Gizmos allow them to dig deeper and manipulate variables to lead them to a higher-level depth of knowledge. There were plenty of students who had a ‘light bulb’ moment using a Gizmo!”
— Teacher
Interactive online biology lab topics
With our virtual biology simulations, students learn about everything from cell structure to building DNA. Gizmos give students an in-depth look at how biology affects the world around them in ways that textbooks or static visuals alone simply can’t do. These virtual labs let students manipulate variables, observe real-time outcomes, and build a deeper understanding of the living world. These labs help students not only grasp essential biology content but also understand how living systems impact and interact with the world around them.
Topics for virtual biology labs range from cellular structure and genetics to human anatomy and ecological systems, including:
Cell Types
Using a compound light microscope, explore a wide variety of cells, from bacteria to human neurons. Select a sample to study, then focus on it using the microscope's coarse and fine focus controls. Compare the structures found in different cells, then perform tests to see if the sample is alive.
Embryo Development
Explore how a fertilized cell develops into an embryo, a fetus, and eventually an adult organism. Compare embryo development in different vertebrate species and try to guess which embryo belongs to each species. Use dyes to trace the differentiation of cells during early embryo development, from the zygote to the neurula.
Flower Pollination
Observe the steps of pollination and fertilization in flowering plants. Help with many parts of the process by dragging pollen grains to the stigma, dragging sperm to the ovules, and removing petals as the fruit begins to grow. Quiz yourself when you are done by dragging vocabulary words to the correct plant structure.
Muscles and Bones
See how muscles, bones, and connective tissue work together to allow movement. Observe how muscle contraction arises from the interactions of thin and thick filaments in muscle cells. Using what you have learned, construct an arm that can lift a weight or throw a ball. Connective tissue, muscle composition, bone length, and tendon insertion point can all be manipulated to create an arm to lift the heaviest weight or throw a ball the fastest.
Food Chain
In this ecosystem consisting of hawks, snakes, rabbits and grass, the population of each species can be studied as part of a food chain. Disease can be introduced for any species, and the number of animals can be increased or decreased at any time, just like in the real world.
Building DNA
Construct a DNA molecule, examine its double-helix structure, and then go through the DNA replication process. Learn how each component fits into a DNA molecule, and see how a unique, self-replicating code can be created.
Disease Spread
Observe the spread of disease through a group of people. The methods of transmission can be chosen and include person-to-person, airborne, and foodborne as well as any combination thereof. The probability of each form of transmission and number of people in the group can also be adjusted.
Meiosis
Explore how sex cells are produced by the process of meiosis. Compare meiosis in male and female germ cells, and use crossovers to increase the number of possible gamete genotypes. Using meiosis and crossovers, create "designer" fruit fly offspring with desired trait combinations.
Fast Plants
Grow Wisconsin Fast Plants® in a simulated lab environment. Explore the life cycles of these plants and how light, water, and crowding influence their growth. Practice pollinating the plants using bee sticks, then observe the traits of the offspring plants. Use Punnett squares to model the inheritance of genes for stem and leaf color for these plants.
Senses
Everything we know about the world comes through our senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. In the Senses Gizmo, explore how stimuli are detected by specialized cells, transmitted through nerves, and processed in the brain.
Dig deeper into biology with STEM Cases
STEM Cases are interactive explorations in which students practice problem-solving and critical thinking as they solve a real-world problem as a STEM professional. These unique online labs for biology let students form and test ideas to find solutions — just like real scientists. Biology lab simulations offer an in-depth, natural look into topics ranging from osmosis to evolution.
Virtual biology labs engage students with authentic scenarios and student-centered STEM learning. Students don’t just read about topics. They take on roles like epidemiologists or ecologists to solve real problems using scientific reasoning.
“When you walk into the classroom of a teacher using Gizmos, you notice that students are completely engaged. They have conversations and ask questions. They use data to support and explain scientific claims.”
— Teacher
Osmosis
As a veterinarian, students help a young calf, named Clark, who is having seizures. To determine the cause, the students fly into Clark's brain to learn about osmosis and apply their learning to save Clark.
Evolution
Working as CDC researchers, students investigate an outbreak of multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections and determine how evolution was involved by tracing the source and cause of the outbreak.
Homeostasis
As physician assistants, students help a young man named Anthony, who has Type II diabetes and high blood pressure. Students must make a diagnosis and then apply the principles of filtration and homeostasis to help Anthony.
Cell Respiration
As a medical toxicologist, students learn about cell respiration to save the life of a CIA agent who has been poisoned.
Ecosystems
As national park rangers, students must restore a park's ecosystem to normal. They interact with populations of many organisms, including wolves, deer, and bees. Students learn the importance of food chains and webs and how human factors can impact the health of the environment.
Nitrogen Cycle
An infant on a farm has blue baby syndrome. As an EPA environmental engineer, students must find the cause of the baby's illness. Using environment data, students learn the importance of the nitrogen cycle and how human factors can impact nature.
Meowsis
As a geneticist in an animal hospital, students learn about genetic changes in meiosis to determine the reason why a male cat can have calico fur coloring.
Protein Synthesis
As a pediatrician, students learn about genes and protein synthesis to try to help a baby girl named Lucy who has an immunodeficiency disease.
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